IND vs NZ: Hardik Pandya breaks Virat Kohli's THIS massive record in T20Is for India

Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to field first in the 2nd T20I against New Zealand.

The second T20I of the five-match series between Indian Cricket Team and New Zealand Cricket Team is taking place on January 23. Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya achieved a marvellous record in the clash, which is being played at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur.

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to field first. The hosts made two changes to their XI, adding Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav in place of injured Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested.

Indian bowlers gave a big blow to Kiwi batters at the start, dismissing their openers Devon Conway and Tim Seifert within powerplay overs. In the 13th over, the Black Caps lost five batters with 129 runs on the board. However, they managed to score 200 runs later, finishing with 208/6.

In Bumrah’s absence, Pandya lent a hand in the pace department. In his three-over spell, he clinched one wicket and leaked 25 runs. While the other two pacers in Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana conceded runs at an economy of over 10, Pandya helped to save crucial runs in his spell.

Hardik Pandya breaks Virat Kohli’s record to become 2nd most capped Indian player in T20Is

As Pandya was named in XI for second match, he surpassed Virat Kohli to become the second-most capped player for India in T20I cricket. The all-rounder featured in his 126th game in the IND vs NZ 2nd T20I. Kohli, who retired from the shortest format in 2024, featured in 125 matches in his career. Rohit Sharma is the most capped India player in T20Is with 159 games.

Most T20I matches for India

• Rohit Sharma – 159
• Hardik Pandya – 126*
• Virat Kohli – 125
• Suryakumar Yadav – 101
• MS Dhoni – 98

Moreover, Pandya is also among the only four players to play more than 100 T20I games for India. In the previous game, Suryakumar became the fourth Indian player to reach the milestone.

Since his debut in 2016, Pandya has scored 2027 runs in 98 innings and picked 103 wickets. With Bumrah and Arshdeep, he is the only third Indian bowler with more than 100 scalps in the T20I format.

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